This Guardian article claims this isn’t the first time, but I don’t think I’ve ever read about a laowai protest of this size in China before:

Hundreds of foreign nationals have taken to the streets of Guangzhou, southern China, to protest after an expatriate died in custody following a brawl with a Chinese man.

Most of the demonstrators are thought to have come from the city’s various African communities and sources in the city said the dead man was Nigerian.

Guangzhou police said via its microblog account it had opened an investigation into the death of a foreign national on Monday. It said officers in Yuexiu district had been called because of a fight between a foreigner and an electric bicycle driver over a fare dispute.

Police took both men back to the police station to investigate, it said. But hours later the foreigner suddenly became unconscious and died despite officers summoning medical help.

…

One picture posted on Sina’s Weibo microblog showed a man carrying a cardboard placard reading “Give us the dead body” in English and Chinese.